8/15/2011

Ushers, INC by Rusty Fischer

From Goodreads: When the streets are full of bloodsuckers, werewolves, zombies and ghouls, where will you turn? The cops don't know how to stop them, the Army's pretty much given up and even the Marines are stumped when their bullets and grenades fail to stop the onslaught.

Have no fear, Ushers, Inc. is here! Four high school movie ushers, who collectively have seen over 42,000 hours of B- and C-horror movies know just what to do.

Did you know copper pennies can stop a zombie in its tracks? Abby Cooper, Head Usher, does.

Did you know garlic paste is twice as effective on vampires as garlic cloves? Abby Cooper does.

Did you know werewolves are absolutely petrified of seeing a Hershey's kiss? Abby Cooper does.

The girls at Cypress Cove High school-especially Rich Witch Mia Hopwood-call Abby an uber-geek; the victims she rescues from zombies, werewolves and vampires just call her one thing: Hero!

But Abby and her fearless crew of movie ushers-slash-superheroes face more than just bloodsuckers and brain-biters. There's Wyatt Winters, for one; he's the hot new PR guru Ushers, Inc. has had to hire to handle all their press - and with his smoldering good looks and air of confidence, he's causing more than just tension between Abby and her old boy-crush-and fellow usher-Zach Nash.

And let's not forget the monsters, who aren't too happy about four geeky ushers beating their butts all over creation. Now the League of Associated Undead (LAD) is converging on Cypress Cove, determined to stop Ushers, Inc. once and for all.

When it's the monsters versus the monster hunters, who you gonna call?

Ushers, Inc., that's who!

This was such an awesome book for me to read. I managed a movie theater for a few years, and a lot of the customers were very monster-like lol JK! But seriously, Rusty, I have to call you out on one thing. The popcorn doesn’t come out of the popper already buttered ;) But the rest of it is just how I remember. The late night previews on Thursday night before the movie release. The camaraderie with employees, and the simple love for movies—It was a blast.

Abby is my kind of girl. She’s spunky and full of one-liners, and I love how she moons over Zach. Dropping not-so-subtle hints about the Fall Formal, and even marks down how many times a week he says ‘goodnight’ to her. It’s so adorable. All four teens live in an orphanage or sorts, and they’ve banded together to form Ushers, Inc. after their manager was attacked by zombies. They saved the day with their awesome knowledge of B Horror movies. Cliff, the brains of the operation, hooked up with Wyatt, the hot foreign exchange student whose father is in marketing, and put their name out there along with the use of a news crew.

Wyatt causes some trouble for Zach, but also gives him the push needed to finally notice, or rather, do something about his feelings for Abby. Well, him, and a werewolf/vampire/zombie, but I’m going for no spoilers here. Not only does the team have zombies, werewolves, and vampires to worry about, but they’ve gotten the attention of the LAD (League of Associated Dead) and they’re not happy with them. I laughed so much during this read. Really, Rusty Fischer truly is a talented writer. I fell in love with the characters, rooted for them, and laughed with them the whole time.

The characters’ banter, mixed in the with B Horror movie references and humorous action-packed scenes, and a bit of romance, makes this a highly entertaining read for paranormal lovers of any age.